Salvation Army holiday campaigns well on their way

The Christmas season can be an expensive undertaking, but the Salvation Army in Regina is well into three campaigns to take the burden off those who might need some help.

Saturday is the wrap day for the annual Santa’s Anonymous campaign, presented with the help of 980 CJME.

Bins have been placed around the city to collect new, unwrapped kid’s toys. They’ll be picked up on Tuesday evening and hundreds of people will gather on Saturday to prepare the gifts.

Major Bruce Mac Kenzie is with the Salvation Army. On Monday, he said Santa’s Anonymous already had 1,500 kids signed up, and they were expecting between 1,900 and 2,000 before the end of the week.

The organization is also running its Adopt-a-Family campaign. Mac Kenzie said they have noticed something a bit different this year about the applicants – many of them have jobs.

“They can keep things in balance for the rest of the year, it’s just trying to do something special at Christmas that they need a little help with.”

The application deadline for the hampers is Friday. Mac Kenzie said 400 to 600 families are expected.

There is also the campaign that can be seen, and heard, in malls – the Salvation Army’s Kettle Campaign. It launched at the end of November and Mac Kenzie said they have since raised about $40,000 of their $215,000 goal. The kettles will be in malls until Dec. 24, and Mac Kenzie said there’s still space for people to help out.

“We still have about 850 spots available for people who would like to help out, volunteering to be the smiling face of the Salvation Army.”